PLAYERS ERA POWER COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

November 30, 2024

Brian Dutcher

Pharaoh Compton

Miles Byrd

MGM Grand Garden Arena

San Diego State Aztecs

Postgame Press Conference

SDSU - 73, Houston - 70 (OT)

BRIAN DUTCHER: When we scheduled this season, I knew I had a good team, but could we be good in November? It's the last day in November, and we were pretty good.

I'm proud of these guys. It was a daunting four-game stretch with the Zags, Creighton, Oregon, and Houston. But we played good basketball, and we did what we had to do.

We split. When you split, obviously you get greedy and want more. But we were fortunate enough to get two wins out of this event. It was a hard event. It was a good event. We just stayed focused for longer stretches.

We're talented. We're deep. We're connected. We turned maybe a nine rebound deficit at halftime to two for the game. They had 17 offense, we had 14. We had 2 turnovers at halftime, 7 for the game. For a new team that's pretty good too.

Houston is a great opponent. We have nothing but respect for Kelvin and his program. We're grateful for the win, and we get to celebrate by opening at Fresno in our conference opener on Wednesday.

We've got to celebrate the moment today and then start getting ready for the conference opener when we get back to San Diego.

Q. Miles, Houston, just because the defense they play, doesn't usually give up 11-point leads in the second half. What did you guys do? What switched for you guys?

MILES BYRD: Just being solid and continuing to do what we was doing, trying to execute plays, rebound, and it ended up working out in our side.

Obviously get stops, that's the biggest thing. Both teams are defensive programs. Now you have a look at what the inside of our practices look like. That's exactly what inside our practices look like when we've been working multiple months in our practices.

So I'm glad we were able to come out and get a win.

Q. Nick and B.J. didn't have any points until midway through the second half. How important was that for them to really get it going?

PHARAOH COMPTON: I would say just like staying locked in during the game. The first half might not always go your way, so you've got to be locked in. Like we've got another 20 minutes to play in the second half and then be ready for your turn.

They eventually got on the board, but those points matter, and it ended up being the game changer for us.

Q. How big of a toughness win was this? All you hear about with Houston is toughness. You guys are known as a tough program, but it's a different group.

MILES BYRD: I think this is big for us. We lost a lot of guys so a lot of people probably thought we weren't as tough as we've always been, but we're always going to be tough. We're always going to play defense. We're always going to rebound. I'm glad we were able to display it tonight.

PHARAOH COMPTON: Yeah, I think we're a hard, tough, fighting team. Just staying through it throughout the whole 40 minutes. You've got to keep playing hard throughout the whole game because the other team, they aren't going to let up. Got to make sure we stay locked in the whole game.

BRIAN DUTCHER: This is a pretty good young freshman here. He played against as good of bigs as you're going to play over a four-game series. He shows he belongs out there and getting better every game. Nothing but bright sun ahead for this young man on the floor.

Q. How does it feel to play your first college game back in Vegas?

PHARAOH COMPTON: It was great. The energy is amazing. It was so comfortable being out there on the floor out here on my home court. It felt even better to get the win out there against a really good and great Houston team. Got to get ready for the next game next week.

BRIAN DUTCHER: Thanks to the Aztec fans. We travel. That's why we have the record we have in Vegas, because our fans support us. To come back after Tuesday, Wednesday, and then come back for a Saturday game shows the kind of support we have. We're grateful for it.

Q. Pharaoh, it seemed like a little bit of a breakout game for you. Just take me through the -- what changed and what were you seeing better? Did you sort of like playing in a game where you could hack and bump just like they were to you?

PHARAOH COMPTON: I would say I was more like patient. I was getting ready for it. I was locked in leading up to the game. So you've just got to dial in and lock into the scout for the matchups.

That's what I did. I really did own up to this matchup. Houston, they were one of my offers, so I take it personal.

BRIAN DUTCHER: We called his number tonight. We ran post-up plays for him, which we hadn't run yet this year. A lot of giving him the ball in the low post, and he produced when we put it there, so I'm proud of him.

Q. Following up on that, Pharaoh, as a true freshman, what part of the game changes for you that allows you to do that? Does it slow down? Does it speed up? Confidence? What is it that happens?

PHARAOH COMPTON: It's all those put together, but most definitely just trusting in my coach and knowing that he's going to put me in the right position. So when I go out there, I've just got to play hard every time I'm in the game, and everything is going to go right. It's going to happen.

Q. End of regulation, Miles, run the play for B.J. in the corner. Were you purposely on that weak side knowing the rebound, that's the most likely place for the rebound to come?

MILES BYRD: I wouldn't say I was purposely on that side, but we talked about, once we get a shot up, we're going to suicide rebound. That just happens to be where I start on the play, and I was able to read the ball off the rim and get a rebound and knock down two free-throws, which was big.

BRIAN DUTCHER: The back side of that play Byrd was going to rear screen 'Goon to the rim and step out. So if we didn't have B.J. in the corner we were going to curl Nick up, hit him, and then get him a catch. Either a lob dunk or a catch for Byrd with isolation up top.

Q. Coach, it looked like when they were blitzing ball screens, you weren't sending the roller all the way to the ring. You had to stop at the free-throw line and got some hoops off early. What was the thinking?

BRIAN DUTCHER: They were going to jump out there and hedge your blitz ball screens, and we were going to short roll and let our bigs make decisions.

We made some good ones and we made some not so good ones, but that's what they make you do. You can't roll to the rim or they're going to steal the ball. Just tried to short roll and played out of that.

We've been playing a lot more free, just free movement and random ball screens, slip out of ball screens. I think that serves you well in a game like this because it's hard to score on your set plays. It's playing after the play. I think we continued to grow that part of our game.

Q. Talked about Pharaoh having a breakout, but what about Jared? Is that what you saw in recruiting him?

BRIAN DUTCHER: I told Jared, you can't be one-dimensional. You're out there. I like you shooting threes, but you've got to go to the glass. You've got to crash from out there. So he has to grow his game.

I said, you're multi-talented. You're not just talented. You've got to take advantage of all of your talents. When you do that, you'll become a better player, and we'll become a better team.

Q. Same thing for Miles, when you're down 11, what are you telling the team, and how do you get back into the game like that against a team like Houston?

BRIAN DUTCHER: I just told them before the game, whether it was the scrimmage against UCLA or being down to Gonzaga or being down to Oregon, we fought back in all those games. I told them they've got a grit about them and a toughness, and now can we have that toughness for 40 minutes? We had it for 45. That's what it took.

We've got to be tough for all the regulation and overtime in order to beat a team like Houston. I thought we had grit and toughness about us for the entire game. We didn't give in.

Q. Last thing for me. What does a big win, marquee win -- I mean, you've had one against Creighton -- but against a top ten Houston team do for you in terms of resume building and the rest of the season, taking the pressure off without having to worry about having any resume wins?

BRIAN DUTCHER: It serves San Diego State the most, and then it serves the Mountain West. That's how we're a multi-bid league. We've got to win games like this. Boise beats Clemson, New Mexico beats UCLA, and we have to win these games as a conference. This is where the strength comes.

When it gets back to it, yeah, everybody's excited for a 20-game conference schedule. I'm still an 18-game guy; let's play out of conference. That's how we build our resumes. I thought we did a good job building our resume in a non-conference.